CompuServe Messages

———————————————————————- Announcing "Similar" Copyright 1994 by Glenn M. Lewis Version 1.0 – 9/94 Similar is a program that operates either on Imagine object files or Envisage object files. (Note, however, that it is not possible to work on *both* IOB and SCE files during the same execution!) It runs from the command line and comes compiled for either the Amiga or the PC. Please specify which you want when you order or I will send you the PC version! Similar takes as input 3 object files and outputs a new object. All objects must have the same topology. In other words, all objects must be derived from the same object and must have the same number of points, edges, and faces. This is the same restriction that Imagine places on objects that are to be morphed. In a nutshell, Similar will read the first two objects, compare the differences in point (vertex) placement, and then apply these differences to the third object in order to create the output object. For example, let's say you have purchased Tim Wilson's excellent Humanoid package. You copy the strong man's face to a new face object, and called it "Charley". You go into your favorite modeling editor, and start modifying the face to give you Charley's unique facial features, including moving points around, changing colors, applying image maps, etc. Now let's say that you wish to make an animation using Charley, and you would like to make him speak as well as get angry and smile, etc. Do you want to go through and modify each of the expressions from Tim's Humanoid package to convert each one of them into Charley? Of course not! Simply run "similar" over each set of expressions from the strong man, and apply those changes to Charley. Voila! You now have a whole new set of morphable objects that all have Charley's unique facial characteristics that you can use in an animation. Similar can also be used for "dressing" the humanoid torsos. You simply change one of the torsos to look like a shirt, and then you can modify all of the other torsos to have shirts as well, since Tim based all the torsos on the same object. As a bonus for your order, I will send you "emph" (short for "Emphasize") that reads in two objects (ObjA and ObjB) and emphasizes the differences between the two by a user-supplied factor, and writes out a new object based on ObjA. This is great for blowing facial features out of proportion for some really weird effects. It also makes it extremely convenient to make slight modifications to objects. For example, if you want to create "Charley" such that he has more pronounced cheek-bones, a slightly larger nose, and more protruding eyebrows, you could simply make a grossly different face by pulling (in your modeler) on the cheeks, nose, and eyebrows way far out, as if spikes are sticking out of the head. Then, simply tone down the differences using "emph" and a difference factor of less than one, say 0.1, for example. Voila! You have Charley, whose facial features are slightly different from the "normal" man, but who is obviously a different person. "Similar" and "Emph" are Copyright 1994 by Glenn M. Lewis, All Rights Reserved. They are NOT freely distributable. As an added bonus, I will include my public domain "melt" program that appeared as the lead article in the July 1994 annual Computer Graphics issue of Dr. Dobbs Journal. That's it! Enjoy! — Glenn Lewis ———————————————————————- The Similar Package is offered at $20.00 US, (Add $5 for overseas orders) For additional information and ordering information, please refer to the Expanded Press Release file "SIMILR.TXT" located in the Imagine UG, file section 19, of the GRAPHICS DEVELOPERS FORUM (GO GRAPHDEV) on Compuserve. SIMILR.TXT contains this message, a sample batch file, sample command lines for all three programs, customer support information, and most importantly ordering information. -GreG